Matthieu BAILLY
Game Designer
Essay
(French)
Resume
(French)
Resume (English)
A Brief Space-Time Mess
A strategic tabletop role-playing game based on synergies, playable by 5 players, including a Game Master.
This is a Game Design paper exercise carried out with a comrade, where the goal was to design a gameplay with numerous synergies between the players and their environment.
Created with Charles Raynor.
Genre
Role-playing game
Support
Tabletop
Date
January 2021
1 month
Roles
Game Designer, Level Designer, Game Tester
Context ​
A Brief Space-Time Mess is a Game Design exercise carried out during the Covid pandemic and aimed at making us practice synergies.
Our group of 2 consisting only of Game Designers, we mainly focused on the gameplay of the game rather than the look, hence the basic visuals.
Nevertheless, this exercise was deemed a complete success.
Level Design
We realized 4 different game maps for the story of our game. These are divided into squares, which are the movement units during combat. You can find on these maps the critical path of the game (red line), the location of the enemies (small red dots) and the bosses as well (red flags).
Map 1: The saloon
This map is meant to be a tutorial and features a fight against cowboys to try out the combat system. It also introduces the environmental context to the players.
Map 2: The desert
Here, players are confronted with their first mandatory fight with coyotes. The map is very open in order to encourage the use of synergies between characters. Players know from the start that they will have to face a boss, giving them time to prepare for it. The cacti can damage enemies sent on them, and the chasm in the center can be crossed by placing in it an ice block from the Alchemist or the giant boulder from the Brute (see Characters section ).
Map 3: The Indian Camp
This is a multi-scenario map: the fight with the Indians is not mandatory, and it is possible to regenerate after the previous fight with the coyotes. We decided to give the GM freedom to choose whether or not to play the combat, in order to adapt the intensity of this passage to the level of the players. Staying near the campfire regenerates life.
Map 4: The bandits' hideout
Once again, this is a mandatory battle map, the last one before facing the final boss. With its narrow corridors, this map is designed to challenge the players' mastery of the combat system. The enemies are also tougher. The goal is to reach the far right.
Map 1 bis: The saloon
Back to the first map for the final boss: the Sheriff. This fight takes place in front of the saloon, in a narrow corridor, face-to-face with the enemy who can attack from a great distance. Players will have to cooperate if they want to defeat him.
Characters
Our non-GM players can each control one of the game's four characters. Each of them has their own specificities and fulfills a role within the group, like in a classic role-playing game.
Alchemist:
Group support role.
Can freeze moving objects, including enemies on the map, and push them in a direction with their Freeze Cannon.
Can heal allies using their "Health Elixir" ability.
Brute:
Tank role.
Can spawn a huge boulder in front of them on the map, protecting them from ranged attacks.
Can also roll it for a short distance to crush enemies.
Can directly protect nearby allies by quickly moving into the path of an enemy attack.
Survivor:
DPS role.
Can attack multiple squares around them simultaneously, and is the only one who can do so diagonally with their "Helicopter Blade".
Can deflect enemy ranged attacks and any object moved by an ally with their nail bat.
Marines:
Ranged DPS role.
Can create shortcuts with their Portal Gun.
Can attack a group of enemies from a distance with their grenade.
As explained above, we mainly focused on synergies between player characters throughout the game. Thus, each character has an ability (2nd of each character) that can lead to a combination of actions with another player or with the environment. We meticulously thought out each ability to make it relevant during combat, while being careful not to make the game too simple. The diagram below represents all the possible synergies between player characters.
Enemies
Enemies can also execute synergies! Each has one or more abilities, and others have passives.
Cowboy:
Optional early game enemy.
Simple enough to beat to get used to the combat system, although rather meant to push players away.
Can immobilize a player.
Coyote:
The most basic enemy in the game.
Weak when alone but gains benefits if in a group.
Can damage multiple players in a line with its charge.
Coyote Leader:
First boss of the game.
Has low base defense but can increase it if in a group with other coyotes.
Can spawn coyotes at its side.
Indian:
Optional enemy.
Can attack from further away than coyotes.
Can push back player characters standing next to them and immobilize them.
Can hurt multiple players lined up over a large distance.
Indian Chief:
Optional boss.
Fairly sturdy.
Gains defense if not attacked the previous turn.
Gains attack if an Indian was attacked the previous turn.
Bandit:
End game enemy.
Can attack multiple times if far away from other bandits.
When at low health, gains mobility and attack, becoming very dangerous.
Sheriff:
Final boss.
Very sturdy and deals a lot of damage.
Can attack from even further away than bandits.
Gains attack points if no player is near them.
Can chain 3 attacks.
Extras
Here you'll find documents and links related to this project, for more details.
Rulebook
Intention document